An 157-YEAR-OLD bottle of whisky set a new world record with an auction price of £29,400 yesterday.

The Bowmore single malt, bottled in 1850, was sold in Glasgow.

It is thought to be the highest auction price for a Scotch whisky.

An anonymous telephone bidder claimed the 75cl bottle at McTears Auctioneers, successfully fending off Bowmore Distillers, the makers of the famous Islay malt. The price included the buyer’s premium.

Onlookers said wild applause broke out as the final bid was agreed, comfortably exceeding the estimate of between £15,000 and £20,000.

The whisky is the oldest bottle of Bowmore known to be in existence and was bottled by the Mutter family. It was being sold on behalf of a private owner during the fine whisky and wine auction.

A spokesman for the auction house said the buyer swooped despite the bottle’s cork having dropped into the whisky itself during the past week.

Bowmore brand director Glen Moore, who lost out to the final bid, said: “We’d known about the sale of the Mutter bottle for some time and had our heart set on bringing it back to its true spiritual home, where it could take pride of place within our new visitor centre.

“We bid beyond the value limit we had set ourselves but, unfortunately, the winning bidder went beyond that. There are some serious whisky collectors around the world and we know Bowmore is incredibly popular among them.

Twin brothers William and James Mutter operated the distillery from the 1850s until the early 1890s when Bowmore Distillery Company Limited was formed.

The bottle was presented to William Mutter in 1851 at the time of him giving up his share of the distillery and has remained in the family for generations. In 2005, a bottle of Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky is thought to have become the world’s most expensive after it was bought in England. A businessman paid £32,000 for the rare 1943 bottle.

^{Source: NorthScotland.co.uk}

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Glenfarclas launches The Family Casks

– A unique collection of 43 Single Cask whiskies, with one for each year from 1952 to 1994.

Speyside, September 2007 – Family owned Glenfarclas Distillery formally launched The Family Casks, an exclusive collection of 43 vintage dated Single Cask Highland Malt Scotch Whiskies, at the Caledonian Club, London, on the 13th September 2007. The Glenfarclas Distillery, with over 52000 casks currently maturing in its traditional dunnage warehouses, is in the enviable position of having stock in cask from every year from 1952 to the current day. The Family Casks is a collection of the best single casks from the distillery’s warehouses, bottled at cask strength and at natural colour. The collection comprises 43 different bottlings, with one for each year from 1952 to 1994. The Family Casks are unique there is no other known collection of old and rare whiskies that covers 43 consecutive years from the same distillery.

Glenfarclas is renowned for producing Single Malt in a traditional Speyside (more…)

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The enduring legacy of Michael Jackson, who has died aged 65, will be that he elevated beer from the belief that it is a simple refresher to its true status as one of the world’s great alcoholic drinks, with a long tradition and deep roots in the history and culture of many societies. Jackson was a tireless writer and lecturer. He showed to the millions who read his books, heard his talks or watched his television programmes and videos that beer comes in many styles and is often made with the addition of fruit, herbs and spices alongside malt and hops. He broke beer free from the narrow concepts of ale and lager and revealed the myriad varieties available, some - such as the lambic beers of Belgium or the sati beers of Finland - so obscure they might have disappeared but for his enthusiastic support.

Jackson was born in Wetherby, Yorkshire, and he remained proud of his Yorkshire stock, though it was a stock that had a major input from the Jewish community of Lithuania. His grandfather, Chaim Jakowitz, had emigrated to Yorkshire from Kaunas. His son, Isaac, married a gentile, Margaret, from Redcar, and they had twin sons - Michael’s brother died shortly after birth - and a daughter, Heather. Isaac Jakowitz anglicised his name to Jack Jackson, unaware that a popular band leader and radio disc jockey shared (more…)

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The Nant Distillery is proud to announce its newest addition to the Nant Whisky Bar, the rare and highly sought after “liquid utopia” of Ardbeg 1965, which was purchased by auction in Melbourne in August.

Arguably one of the rarest and most notorious of Scotch Whiskies, there are only 261 bottles of Ardbeg 1965 in existence. Soon whisky enthusiasts will have the opportunity to savour it at the Nant Whisky Bar in Tasmania – the only place in Australia selling the rare spirit.

A highly sought after dram, the Ardbeg 1965 was purchased at the Malt Whisky Society of Australia bi-annual conference in Melbourne for $6000AUD for the Nant Whisky Bar in August.

Considered the second highest amount paid for a bottle of whisky ever in Austraia’s history, the purchase was made by Nant Estate owner Keith Batt. The bottle was a generous donation by Moet Hennesy and proceeds will assist not-for-profit organisation StreetSmart in helping the homeless.

“The Ardbeg will take pride of place in our new Whisky Bar at the Nant,” said Keith Batt. “We are creating a state-of-the-art bar and lounge, private function room and area to reflect on the full complexity of the world’s finest single malts.”

Designed by award winning Tasmanian architects Morris Nunn and Associates (of Henry Jones Art Hotel and Islington Hotel fame), a glass Atrium has been built to incorporate the whisky bar and lounge facilities. Over 200 whiskies sourced from around the world will be available for the whisky enthu (more…)

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Last nights vertical tasting of Highland Park whisky was an amazing night!

Seven whiskies were on trial, and a fine collection it was!

Many thanks must go to Aren Springvleod from Maxxium Australia, who went above and beyond generous by donating a 15 year old bottle of Highland Park (not commerically available in Australia) and many copies of Michael Jackson 5th Edition Whisky Companion. It is generosity like this that shows the true character of the hardworking & dedicated people within the whisky industry.

Many thanks also to Bill, David and the staff of Lark Distillery, who go out of their way to help with the venue, glasswear, snacks, etc - we couldn’t do it without your efforts.

It was an excellent turn out, with 18 members making it along for the tasting. The whiskies were aged from 12 years old right through to a 25 year old - Tim Duckett once again, put his knowledge and MCing skills to the test, giving us the rundown on each bottle presented.

We started with the three 12 year olds, which were all different - the first one was a standard maturation, the second one was Whisky Galore Port matured, and finally a Provenance Summer release. All were different - everyone had their own opinions as to which was their favourite. As it turned out the majority of people liked the 1st whisky which was the standard (more…)

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